On Dragon Wings
by Sabaku no Ryu
Summary: A friend from Albel's past comes back to help with Crosell. Why is Albel calling Cliff out for a duel? And why is Fayt acting so strange?


**Gaara:** By the Sands! She's writing something that's NOT Naruto!

**Etna:** Remember this day…

**Ryu: **Shut it! I just decided to try something new, that's all.

**Etna:** Thanks to her crush on Albel!

**Ryu:** I said shut it! Blushes

**On Dragon Wings**

**Disclaimer: **Star Ocean…great game…don't own the rights to it…grrrr

**Just FYI:** "whatever" – Normal speech

:whatever: - Dragon mind speech

**Chapter One: First Meetings**

"Well, well, what have we here?" The man stopped and stood in front of the interesting sight before him. A young girl stared back at him through crimson eyes. The man smiled as he thought of his son, about the same age, with eyes that seemed to match hers. He took a step forward. Suddenly, the girl cowered and turned slightly. Two dragon wings, hidden from sight by the shadows surrounding her, covered the girl. The man took a step backwards. The girl's crimson eyes stared at him between her wings. He smiled. "Don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you."

The girl's eyes flashed. She spread her wings. "That's a lie! You're a human! Anytime a human sees me, they attack me, call me a half-breed, try to kill me! What makes you so different?"

He smiled. "I happen to work with dragons. In fact, I have a friend who's a dragon." That seemed to catch her interest. "Would you like to meet him?"

She glared at him for a moment longer, then nodded. He walked toward the mouth of the cave. She followed him after a moment.

They stepped out into the sun, where the man's mount was waiting. The look in the girl's eyes went from suspicion to pure delight, and she walked right up to the dragon.

:Hello.: She bowed in the way of the dragons.

:Hello, little one. What's the matter:

The girl turned toward the man for a moment before looking at the dragon again. :He says he won't hurt me. But the humans always do. Is he lying:

The dragon made noises in his throat that the man could have sworn was laughter. :No. He is honorable and good of heart. If he said he wouldn't hurt you, then he will not.:

:How can you be sure:

The dragon noticed the fear in the girl's eyes. :I'll make you a deal. If he hurts you, I'll hurt him for you.:

The girl smiled. :Ok.:

She turned back to the man, who was sitting on a rock watching the interaction. "Satisfied?" he asked.

The girl hesitated a moment, then nodded.

"Good. Are you hungry?" He held out some lum meat to the girl. She took it from him and took a bite. "So, what's your name?"

"Relica," she answered around a piece of meat.

"Relica. That's a nice name." He looked from the wings protruding from her back to her dragon leather skirt and top to her bare feet. Relica's dark green hair was pulled back into a braid, and her skin was sun-kissed. "My name's Glou. Glou Nox. Do you live up here?"

She nodded. "I live in my mother's cave. She's not coming home, though. A human came and took her away. The others say that humans come up here and try to persuade dragons to help them. They say that's what happened to my mother." She said this so matter-of-factly it startled Glou.

"So, your mother is a dragon?" Glou asked, thinking that he needed to speak to the mounts as soon as he got back to Airyglyph.

The girl nodded again. "Yes. They all say that they have no idea how it happened. She had the egg, but instead of a baby dragon, there was a baby half-dragon." She giggled. "My father said that it was from my mother's side of the family, but I confused everyone. At first, they sent me to live with humans, but when the family they chose opened their door to find a basket with a half-dragon in it, they sent the basket right back up here. Probably hoping that I would be eaten." She said the last part with a sad look. "Ever since then, any human I've ever come across has tried to kill me."

Glou's eyes widened. "What about your father?"

A sadness deep came to her eyes. "He was a dragon too. He died. Some humans killed him when he came to protect me."

Glou lowered his head. "I'm sorry."

A tear rolled down her cheek. "Now, I'm all alone."

"How old are you?"

"Ummm…12." She answered.

Suddenly, Glou had an idea. "Will you wait here for a few minutes? I have somebody I want you to meet."

Her eyes widened. "Another dragon?"

"No. He's my son. He won't hurt you either, I promise."

She contemplated for a moment, then nodded.

Glou left her some more lum meat and some water, jumped on his dragon, and flew away as quickly as possible.

13 year old Albel Nox was sitting in his room when he heard the wing-beats. He ran out the door and was on the back lawn before his father even touched down. He ran to his dad, hugging him.

"Where'd you go, father? Did you fight lots of monsters? Are we going to train?" Albel's questions seemed to have no end. Glou laughed.

"Slow down, slow down, I have something very important to talk to you about." He knelt down to his son's height. "I met someone very unique today. She's about your age." Albel blinked at his father. "She is a half-dragon. She has dragon wings and can fly."

Albel's eyes widened. "Wings? Is she some sort of…freak?"

Glou's hand didn't even seem to move. The sound resounded through the yard as Albel raised a hand to his cheek, stinging from the slap. "You didn't let me finish. And don't call her a freak. She's alone in the mountains. Her father died defending her from closed-minded humans and her mother serves the Dragon Brigade." Albel's eyes widened.

"She doesn't have any family with her?" He seemed genuinely interested now.

"None. I thought you might want to meet her."

Albel's eyes shone. "Yes! Can we go now?"

His father nodded. They mounted up, and as they flew toward the Mountains of Barr, Albel leaned toward his father's ear. Yelling to be heard above the flapping, he asked, "What's her name?"

"Relica!" His father answered.

Albel sat back and thought.

Not too long after he'd left, Glou's mount set down in almost the exact spot they'd left from. The girl was still there, only instead of sitting, she was sparring with another dragon. They watched in silence, as the girl struck out with her claws, graceful and powerful at the same time. Occasionally, the two would stop, and Relica would stand there looking at her partner, then nod and continue. It seemed that the dragon was her teacher. Dodge, parry, strike, duck, spin, strike. The girl moved with a grace not typically seen in humans.

After a few minutes, the dragon looked towards them, then motioned to Relica. She turned toward them then turned back and bowed to her master. He bowed in return, and she walked over to them, waist-length braid swinging. Glou and Albel dismounted as she approached.

"Is this him?" she asked. Glou nodded and moved so that Albel could step forward.

"This is my son, Albel. Albel, this is Relica."

Albel's eyes took in the sight of the girl standing before him. She was beginning to fill out in the chest area, but didn't seem to care. Her skirt was about mid-thigh length, showing long, hairless, tanned legs. Her top showed her belly, and when she stretched, he could see the muscles shallow beneath her skin.

"Hello." She said, still looking closely at him.

"Hello." He was a bit nervous. She was circling him, looking him over, and he couldn't help thinking that her walk seemed more like a predator circling her prey, rather than a curious person taking in the appearance of another. Her wings and claws were definitely disconcerting. She stopped in front of him.

"What's wrong? You're tense, extremely tense." She seemed quite straight-forward.

"N-nothing," Albel managed to stutter out.

The girl smiled. "Do you know how to fight?"

Albel, relieved to be on familiar ground, nodded excitedly. "My father and I train as much as possible."

Her eyes narrowed playfully. "Wanna spar?"

Albel's eyes lit up. He turned back to his father. Glou nodded, an amused look on his face.

As the sun set over the mountains, the two new friends sparred until dusk turned to night and the stars, in their multitudes, appeared above them.

**Ryu:** Not too bad of a first chapter. There'll be more interesting things happening later. Promise.


End file.
